Bhubaneswar: The birth day of former chief minister Biju Patnaik will now be celebrated as Lok Seva Diwas, announced CM Naveen Patnaik at a function organised to celebrate Panchayati Raj Diwas here Thursday.
“A safe roof over the head of each rural family of Odisha was Biju Babu’s dream. It is a matter of pride that we have came a long way in this direction. Ensuring a pucca house for every rural family that lives in kuchha house is the state government’s top priority,” Naveen said.
So far, the state government has reached a remarkable feat by providing pucca houses to 25 lakh rural households who lived in kutcha houses and were vulnerable to disaster and insecurity, he said, adding, “Target has been set to provide pucca houses to another 20 lakh beneficiaries in the next four years.”
The CM also launched the distribution of entitlement cards to another 20 lakh beneficiaries who will be provided with pucca houses under schemes of rural housing in phased manner based on their eligibility and priority criteria by 2022. He handed over entitlement cards to nine beneficiaries.